We got there around 10 AM and it was already plenty hot and sunny. A bog that sits in front of the mill-site had a few critters in it, but only this Painted Turtle was content to be photographed.
It was already quite warm and we flipped tons of stuff but eventually came to the conclusion that most snakes were already up and at 'em. I got some nice footage for the video but we were snakeless until I flipped our First of the Year Ringneck. But, does this wee lil bugger even count? HELL YES!
#53, an Eastern Phoebe, posed nicely for me.
We'd spent plenty of time filming and flipping and were done with the dilapidated building portion of the hike, so we walked along the bog in front of the place. We stumbled into Bullfrog Land.
There were a few boards next to the bog and we flipped them. It wasn't until the last one, that I flipped and saw nothing until a Garter magically appeared, that we had any luck. I grabbed it, got bitten and musked but we corralled it for some decent photos. Stubby! No dorsal stripe!
Stinking of musk, I hit the pond on the way back to the car to wash up. Waiting down there was the day's first Water Snake, swimming along the edge. Beautiful specimen!
Bullfrog tadpoles took umbrage at my musk-cleaning. That's a side-eye for sure.
We got to the car and I noted that I'd left my window down with thousands of dollars in cash hidden under the seat. Oops. We drove to the other side of the bog to check out the main spot which is often good for Water Snakes and Musk Turtles. (We call it... Musk Spot. I never said we were clever.) Off the dam, there were thousands of Herring doing what they do... swarming.
We didn't see any turtles or snakes... until we did. All of a sudden, Water Snakes were popping up everywhere, just like they would in a happy dream!
< Note the Herring, too.
We crossed the street to try our luck over there with Musks. I walked along the edge and wasn't having much luck. A piece of plastic wrapping blew in front of me, or so I thought. It was the shiny clear wings of a Dusky Clubtail. Pretty lil one.
Finally, I saw a shell a few feet out and stepped in to retrieve our First of Year Musk Turtle. It was not happy with me at all.
Walking back towards the car, I looked into the bog and saw the dumbest looking Bullfrog face I'd ever seen. I waved Andrea over as I fumbled with the camera. I finally realized that it was a Snapper face! Sadly, it only stayed up for one blurry picture but even that captures the funny face.
After that, we headed over to another dilapidated mill site to look for more turtles and Water Snakes but the water level was very low and we saw nothing except a Turkey Vulture (#54) soaring above us.
From there, after getting more drinks, we headed over to a nearby spot in Bristol County where we could flip picnic table parts and sometimes see Milks. No snakes at the flipping site and we were getting pretty toasted anyway. We turned back to go home but stopped by the pond long enough to get a shot of this young Painter really enjoying the sun.
Not a bad day at all. I made some dough, saw some animals (two more FoYs and two more birds!) and we got filthy, hot and stinky, the way we were meant to be. I treated us to Mandarin Buffet after.
A good day indeed.
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